Chapter 15: Whispers from the Past
Morning dew still clung to the grass when Yu Shiming set out with the triplets for the nearby forest, claiming they needed "discipline through activity." Su Yanyue hadn't argued—after last night's chicken disaster, the boys definitely needed to burn off some energy.
Left alone in the peaceful yard, she sat beneath the blooming pear tree and pounded herbs in her mortar. The rhythm calmed her mind. The scent of crushed mint and mugwort grounded her more than any meditation ever could.
She had built this from nothing—brick by brick, herb by herb. If she ever lost it, she wasn't sure she could start again.
Not far away, just outside the village, a pale man in dark robes stepped from a carriage dusted with road dirt. His face was unremarkable—perfect for someone who lived in the shadows.
"Here?" he asked the local guide.
"Yes, sir," the man replied nervously. "This is the village. There's only one new woman here lately… Su Yanyue. No one knows where she came from."
"Describe her."
"Beautiful. Slim, tall, calm like flowing water. Her medicine's saved half the village already. They say she's blessed by the heavens."
The pale man narrowed his eyes. "Any mention of a family?"
"None, sir. Came from the mountains, they say. Lives with a man and three boys, but they're not married."
The man's lips twisted slightly. "A village healer with mysterious origins. No records of her birth. No husband. Yet skilled in medicine, business… and she has the air of someone trained."
He pulled a folded letter from his sleeve and re-read the faded script: A phoenix will rise far from her nest…
He had been searching for the missing Su family descendant for years now. Too many pieces had been lost in that chaotic fire all those years ago. The Matriarch still held hope. And when the Su family held hope, entire counties moved to fulfill it.
"Watch her," the pale man ordered. "Quietly. Report anything unusual. Especially visitors or signs of education beyond a commoner's reach."
The guide nodded and vanished into the market crowd.
Back at the house, Su Yanyue stirred the cooling herbs into small pots, her thoughts drifting. Occasionally, flashes of her death flickered through her mind—a metallic scent, cries in the distance, cold fingers. Then, waking up in a strange body, in a strange time, with no direction but instinct.
Yet every time she brewed medicine, hunted for herbs, or set up her stall, her hands moved with certainty.
Someone had taught her once. Someone who had cared for her. But the faces in her dreams remained blurred.
She sighed and set aside the finished balm, unaware that far beyond the trees, someone had just placed her name into a sealed envelope destined for the capital.
A name the Su family hadn't heard in years.
And a name they had never stopped searching for.